Tina & Scott

The bright tones and simple elegance of Tina and Scott’s colourful elegant Sydney wedding are just the ticket as we head into the greyer season of Winter. Captured beautifully by Tealily Photography, Tina and Scott wanted a day that was a nod to their own cultural backgrounds (with two receptions!) that celebrated not only their own story but their love for their family and friends. Their family and friends? They completely showed up – from creating the floral arrangements with the bride to practising the impromptu reception entrance dance. How’s that for a love story?

These two met straight out of university, all of which led to a proposal at Taronga Zoo. Tina tells their story. “We met on a one-week assignment at our first job out of uni, an accounting firm. My first impressions of Scott wasn’t exactly love at first sight – he was late to work, came in hot & sweaty, little introduction then proceeded to spray himself and the whole room with deodorant. However, he had a firm, sincere handshake and I quickly warmed up to his quick wit and humour that lit up the room. Arguably, I made the first move by sending him a ‘happy Chinese new year’ text!

We decided to go to the Taronga Zoo for our 5th anniversary. When we arrived, Scott surprised me with a close encounter with little penguins where we got to feed and learn about these cute creatures. He surprised me again by going down on one knee and proposing to me inside the enclosure in front of many very curious onlookers. It was very surreal.”

The bride chose her Rosa Clara strapless lace wedding gown from  Fashions by Farina noting “I tried on a number of dresses and styles but my mind always drifted back to this first dress. I like that it was  simple yet romantic.”

Tina and Scott were married at Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College Chapel. The bride walking down the aisle with her father to Pachelbel’s Canon In D.

Tina notes “We both had our long-time school friends in our bridal party. They are practically family, been there for the highs and lows so couldn’t imagine our wedding day without them by our sides.”

The floral arrangements were styled by the bride herself, who remembers “All the flowers on the day were fruits of our own labour! The day before the wedding, we (my girlfriends, cousin, mother in law, mum and mum’s friends) went to pick up flowers and supplies from the flower market before dawn and spent the entire day preparing and arranging the bouquets, the boys’ buttonholes, table centrepieces and more. I wanted it to be a fun, new experience for us ladies to bond over but I definitely bit off more than I could chew. It was definitely a stressful day but still a rewarding one. I was extremely happy with how all the flowers turned out, they were vibrant and lush and simply just brightened up the day. MASSIVE thanks to my loved ones again for going along with my crazy idea!”

“I have been captivated by Tealily’s work for years and was elated to have Trish be part of our special day” tells Tina of their photographer choice, continuing ” I love her honest and simple way of storytelling, beautifully capturing every moment including the small details that would otherwise be long forgotten. Trish & her team were like our extended bridal party, they were really approachable, lovely and bubbly. I also recall our little pre-wedding photo adventure in the Blue Mountains where Trish found us stranded on the side of the road without petrol, seized the day and created beautiful images of us in the bush, right by the roadside. It is not only her photography style but also her drive and ability to turn any adversity into the opportunity that makes Tealily the best investment of our wedding.”

After a lunchtime reception, the couple gathered with their guests after dark at Waterfront for another round of festivities. The setting filled with plenty of handmade details, Tina explaining “We designed and handmade almost all the details for our wedding with help from family and friends. From invitations, welcome sign, seating chart, guest books to favours, which were little jars of organic honey sourced by my maid of honour and clip-board colouring activity books for our little guests. My mum even helped me source glass jars for the flowers. We must’ve had over a hundred different sized jars stacked up at home at one stage.”

The newlyweds mixed two of their favourite songs for the first dance. “For our first dance, we waltzed to an acoustic cover of Al Green’s ‘Let’s stay together’ than rock & rolled to ‘Baby workout’ by Jackie Wilson” explains Tina. “Scott’s best man is a dancer and choreographed this fun number for us and coached us over a few weeks leading up to our wedding day. Looking back, this was a great way to learn something new together and one of our favourite parts of wedding planning.We wanted to make our wedding fun and memorable for our guests so we decided to get the whole bridal party to dance to ‘Uptown Funk’ as our reception entrance. It really created a fun, relaxed atmosphere to the evening and we loved seeing everyone faces light up. Thankfully our bridal party is still friends with us today!”

Capping off the beautiful day, was a film captured by Andy Yang Films which showed it off in a new kind of angle.

A big congratulations to the newlyweds! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us! Thank you also to  Tealily Photography for sharing day’s beautiful celebration!